"We are living in days when the goodness of America is fading away before our eyes. The moral character of this nation is unraveling like a cheap sweater. We are suffering a famine in the land for preaching of the Word of God. Amos 8:11 says, “Days are coming, declares the Lord, when there will be a famine, not for drink and not for food, but for a hearing of the word of the Lord.” We are witnessing such days of drought. It is the judgment of God upon a nation to withhold His preachers.You and I have a small window of time to seize the moment before God closes the open door that we have before us. While we still have freedom, while we still have opportunities, while we still have pulpits, while we can still meet publicly, we must preach and herald the Word of God. These are no days to be playing church. These are no days to try to be entertaining “communicators” on stages. These are days for men to be men, to have adult conversation in the pulpit, and to preach the Word of the living God." - Steven Lawson
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
More from the same sermon, Mr Lawson addressing pastors/ preachers:"I want you to consider the convicting power of the word. No one will ever be saved until he is under the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit. No one will ever be saved until he knows he is lost. No one will ever believe in Jesus Christ until he understands that he is separated from Him and stands in desperate need of His saving grace. There is only one way for the lost sinner to be awakened to his or her unconverted state, and that is for the Word of God to come with convicting power...In the time that I have to address you, I want to reaffirm your confidence in the power of the Word of God when it is preached. I want to remind you of the supernatural power that is unleashed when you take this Book, the Bible, open it, and say, “Thus says the Lord.” No power compares with the Word preached...I want to urge you this day to unsheathe the sword. Put down all other blunt instruments and wield the Word of God. ...When this Book is preached and taught to those who have been converted, the Spirit of God, who is the Agent of sanctification, takes the Word of God and begins to shape them, mold them, and conform them to the image of Jesus Christ. A fundamental principle of life is this: “Like produces like.” If you preach the newspaper, you will have a worldly congregation. But if you preach the Word of God, you will have a godly congregation....Do you remember when Jesus was tempted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness? At the end of that period of testing, the Devil appeared to Jesus and said, “Command that these stones be turned into bread.” Jesus said, “It is written,” and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Jesus repelled the advance of Satan by using the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17). In like manner, Jesus resisted the Devil by answering every temptation aimed at Him by wielding the Word.If the eternal Son of the living God used the Word of God to repel the temptations the Devil hurled at Him, then, in an argument from the greater to the lesser, how much more must mere sinful human beings like you and me use the Word of God to resist the lures of the Devil. The conquering power in the Word of God produces personal holiness in people’s lives. It produces godliness and Christlikeness in the hearts of those who receive its truths."
_________________SI Moderator - Brandy Gordon
QUOTE:______________________________________________________________..When this Book is preached and taught to those who have been converted, the Spirit of God, who is the Agent of sanctification, takes the Word of God and begins to shape them, mold them, and conform them to the image of Jesus Christ. A fundamental principle of life is this: “Like produces like.” If you preach the newspaper, you will have a worldly congregation. But if you preach the Word of God, you will have a godly congregation.______________________________________________________________This - preaching of the WORD - plus depending on the Holy Spirit for power and conviction... too many have dismissed the need of the Holy Spirit, relying instead on theology and/or philosophy or psychology to fix maladjusted folks."A worldly congregation" - reminds me of some relatives who left a church because the SS teachers were more into the latest sport scores, etc. then the lesson in front of them. Today these churches are people with only a few old folks. Sandra
_________________Sandra Miller
Hi GinnyroseI so agree with your statement
_________________karl rashleigh
